Pamphiet  Collection 
Duke  LT»iitemty  Library 


George  Washington  Flowers 
Memorial  Collection 


DUKE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 


ESTABLISHED  BY  THE 
FAMILY  OF 
COLONEL  FLOWERS 


THE 

NORTHERN  NECK 

or 

VIRGINIA 
AS  A  HOME  FOR  IMMIGRANTS, 

T3  V 

THE  BOABD  OF  IMMIGRATION 


von  Tnr  counties  of 


Richmond,  "Westmoreland,  Lancaster  &  Northumberland, 


18  7  2, 

Schmidt  &  Ccrtics,  Stationery  29  William  Street,  N.  T. 


Pamphlet  CoMedian 
Duke  University  Libffftf? 


THE 

NORTHERN  NECK 

or 

VIRGINIA 

AS  A  HOME  FOR  IMMIGRANTS, 

BY 

THE  BOARD  , OF  IMMIGRATION 

■ 

FOE  THE  COrXTIES  OP 

Richmond.  Westmoreland,  Lancaster  &  Northumberland, 


18  7  2, 

Schmidt  &  Cubtitjs,  Stationers.  29  William  Street,  N.  Y. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/northernneckofviOOagri 


The  Agricultural  and  Immigrant  Society 

FOP.  THE  COUNTIES  OF 

Eichmond,  Westmoreland,  Lancaster  &  Northumberland, 

On  the  Northern  Heck  of  Virginia, 

Organized..  July  1st,  1 872. 

Presideni :  • 

Col.  John  M.  Brgckenbeough,  Warsaw,  Richmond  County. 

Vice-Presidents : 

Mr.  R.  B.  Stuart,  Warsaw,  Richmond  County. 

Col.  Thomas  Brown,  Hague,  Westmoreland  Co. 

Mr,  Edwin  Brown,  Wicomico  Church,  Northumberland  Co. 
Capt.  James  K.  Ball,  Lancaster  Courthouse, 

Secretary : 

Mr.  Joseph  W.  Chinn,      Farnhsni  Crossroads,  Richmond  Co. 

Treasurer :  • 

Capt.  Samuel  Barron,  Warsaw,  Richmond  Co. 

Executive  Committee : 

Mr.  Thos.  Jones,  Richmond  County. 

"    Gr.  H.  Price,  "  " 

"    T.  M.  Balderson,  "  " 

Gen'l  R.  L.  S.  Beale.  Westmoreland  County. 
Dr.  Wm.  H.  Fairfax,  "  " 

Judge  G.  W.  Lewis,  " 

Dr.  Jas.  Smith,  Northumberland  County, 
Mr.  Lucius  T.  Harding,  "  " 

"   Wm.  R.  Claughton,  "  " 

Capt.  Wm.  P.  Chase,  Lancaster  County. 
Mr.  John  C.  Ewell,  "  " 

"    Samuel  Downing.  " 


Board  of  Immigration : 

Col.  John  M.  Brockenbrough,  of  Richmond  County. 

Dr.  J.  A.  Wellford,  "  "  " 

Rev.  W.  W.  Walker,  "  Westmoreland  County. 
Mr.  A.  L.  Carter,  "  Lancaster  " 

Capt,  T.  E.  Betts,  "   Northumberland  " 


Commissioner  of  Immigration : 

Rev.  C.  L.  Clausen,  Warsaw,  Richmond  County. 


Having"  been  duly  constituted  and  appointed  a  Board  of  Immi- 
gration for  the  counties  of  Richmond,  Westmoreland,  Lancaster,  and 
Northumberland,  better  known  as  a  section  of  the  Northern  Neck  of 
Virginia,  it  devolves  upon  us  to  prepare  a  statement  setting  forth  the 
many  and  great  advantages  of  this  portion  of  our  country  as  a  home 
for  immigrants. 

We  undertake  the  task  with  mingled  feelings  of  pleasure  and 
anxiety — with  pleasure,  because  we  love  to  dwell  on  and  describe  the 
advantages  of  this  most  beautiful  and  richly  endowed  spot,  and  with 
anxiety,  partly  because  we  are  aware  that  such  addresses,  however 
moderate  and  strictly  true  they  may  be,  are  read  by  strangers  with 
feelings  of  skepticism,  and  partly,  because  we  are  not  without  fears 
that  we  may  fail  to  do  our  subject  justice  and  deserve  the  censure  of 
our  own  people.  We  shall,  however,  rather  choose  to  incur  the  risk 
of  censure  from  them,  than  by  unwarrantable  or  florid  descriptions 
or  misrepresentations  of  facts,  to  deserve  the  blame  of,  directly  or  in- 
directly, misleading  strangers  to  seek  homes  among  us.  To  ourselves 
personally  and  to  our  people  generally,  it  is  a  matter  of  great  import- 
ance to  have  a  good  class  of  immigrants  come  with  the  necessary 
means  to  purchase  and  improve  our  surplus  lands,  now  lying  compa- 
ratively idle,  but  we  deem  it  of  greater  importance  still  to  maintain 
our  character  as  gentlemen  of  truth,  and  in  this  we  trust  our  fellow 
citizens  will  concur. 

We  need  scarcely  remind  our  readers  that  Virginia  was  not  only 
the  first  state  colonized  by  Europeans,  but  that  her  natural  attrac- 
tions swelled  the  tide  of  immigration  until  she  became  the  most  po- 
pulous and  prosperous  of  all  the  old  colonies.  The  war  of  independ- 
ence, however,  checking  the  immigration,  and  the  permanent  estab- 
lishment of  the  institution  of  African  slavery — the  latter  in  direct 
conflict  with  the  wishes  of  our  people — were  the  events  which  pro- 
duced a  marked  effect  upon  the  subsequent  prosperity  of  our  state. 
The  rapid  increase  of  slaves  by  birth  and  fresh  importation,  substi- 
tuted the  immigration  of  other  classes,  and  our  lands  being  all  re- 
quired for  their  employment,  no  room  or  encouragement  was  given  to 
the  thrifty  immigrant.    The  slaveholders  devoted  themselves  almost 


6 


exclusively  to  agriculture,  with  tobacco  and  corn  as  their  main  pro- 
ducts. With  navigable  water  convenient  to  every  plantation,  each 
planter  carried  on  direct  trade  with  foreign  countries,  superintented 
his  own  shipments,  and  became  hostile  to  the  building  of  towns  and 
manufactures,  under  the  idea  that  such  things  were  inconsistent  with 
the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  both  landlord  and  his  slave  property. 
Smaller  freeholds  were  gradually  absorbed  by  the  larger  landowners 
for  the  accommodation  of  their  slaves,  and  the  natural  consequence 
of  land  and  labor  being  accumulated  upon  the  hands  of  comparative- 
ly a  few  owners  was  careless  tillage:  skimming  with  surface  plowing 
without  change  of  crops,  and  without  manure  or  rest — and,  whenever 
exhausted  by  such  process,  the  land  was  for  a  time  thrown  out  and 
new  lands  were  taken  up.  only  to  be  subjected  to  the  same  wasteful 
procedure.  Generation  after  generation  for  nearly  two  hundred  years 
were  reared  under  this  system  with  ideas  of  ease,  luxury,  and  extra- 
vagance, and  without  perception  of  or  at  least  inclination  to  profit  by 
the  progress  of  modern  civilization  in  some  of  its  most  important, 
social  and  material,  phases.  An  antagonism  more  and  more  marked 
grew  up  between  the  states  still  maintaining  the  slavery  institution 
and  the  states  where  it  had  been  abolished,  which  finally  culminated 
in  the  late  civil  war.  resulting  for  us  with  the  rest  of  the  Southern 
States,  in  the  sudden  and  entire  loss  of  slave  property,  immense  de- 
struction of  capital,  stock,  and  other  property  of  every  description,  and 
thus  reducing  our  people  to  the  verge  of  bankruptcy.  As  a  further 
consequence  of  all  this,  the  landowners  have  since  the  war  been  al- 
most totally  unable  to  cultivate  the  large  tracts  of  land  in  their  pos- 
session, and  still  less  to  improve  them. 

While  such  is  the  state  of  things  here,  we  witness  the  fact  that 
enterprise,  skill,  industry,  and  free  labor  have  filled  the  cold,  barren, 
and  rocky  soil  of  New  England  with  teeming  millions  and  covered 
the  face  of  the  country  with  cities,  villages,  manufactories,  and  other 
evidences  of  thrift.  We  also  observe  in  New  York  and  other  north- 
ern states  wealth,  population,  and  material  prosperity  augmenting 
with  wonderful  rapidity.  The  immense  thrift  and  progress  of  the 
great  West  also  stands  as  living  evidence  of  the  value  of  industry, 
economy,  and  free  labor,  and  is  in  striking  contrast  with  the  present 
unprosperous  condition  of  old  Virginia.  With  sorrow  we  acknowl- 
edge the  fact  that  our  old  state  has  retrograded,  and  yet  it  is  her 
misfortune  rather  than  her  fault.  Circumstances  and  events  alluded 
to  have  to  this  date  controlled  her  destiny,  but  now  a  new  order  of 


7 


things  has  been  inaugurated,  principally  by  the  introduction  of  free 
labor  >  by  which  such  wonders,  have  been  worked  in  the  states  al- 
ready referred  to — and  it  is  impossible  to  see  why  the  same  results 
should  not  also  be  obtained  here.  Our  great  natural  advantages  and 
elements  of  success  are  so  far  superior  *)  to  the  localities  mentioned , 
that  Virginia  may  and  will  succeed  in  her  worthy  competition  for  pro- 
gress. She  still  possesses  the  attractions, advantages  and  charms  of  for- 
mer days  in  all  their  bounteous  proportions.  She  is  the  most  centrally 
located  of  all  the  Atlantic  states,  possesses  a  climate  exempt  from  the 
extreme  cold  of  the  North,  or  the  sultry  heat  of  the  South,  with  a 
medium  temperature  conducive  to  health,  comfort,  and  all  the  varied 
products  of  nature.  Her  mineral  wealth  is  great,  consisting  of  gold, 
copper,  iron,  lead,  coal,  salt,  marble,  limestone,  marl,  &c,  and  her 
forests  abound  in  good  timber  of  every  variety.  Streams  of  pure 
water  gushing  from  her  hills  and  mountains,  furnish  abundance  of 
sites  for  factories,  dash  through  vallies  and  extended  plains  of  the 
finest  agricultural  lands,  and  finally  expand  into  deep  majestic 
rivers,  emptying  into  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  capable  of  bearing 
upon  their  bosom  the  commerce  of  the  world,  These  splendid  navi- 
gable waters  within  our  borders,  with  their  at  all  seasons  unobstruct- 
ed in-  and  outlet  between  the  capes,  are  perhaps  unsurpassed  in  any 
state  or  kingdom,  and  would  undoubtedly  have  secured  for  Virginia 
the  largest  commercial  emporium  of  the  country,  but  for  the  circum- 
stances alluded  to  and  unavailing  further  to  dwell  upon.  We  may 
also  add  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  great  basin  of  the 
Mississippi  and  Missouri  rivers,  by  means  of  the  partially  construct- 
ed J ames  River  &  Kanawha  Canal  and  Ohio  river,  will  be  connected 
with  our  seaboard  by  a  navigable  highway  of  inestimable  value  to 
the  grain  producing  states  of  the  West,  no  less  than  to  the  state  of 
Virginia.    This  enterprise  shown  to  be  entirely  practicable  is  daily 

*)  We  have  not  seen  the  report  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  1871, 
bnt  find  in  the  Richmond  Whig  for  July  23d,  1872,  the  following  comparative 
table,  taken  from  eaid  report,  and  showing  the  average  cash  value  of  farm 
products  per  acre;of  yield  in  the  states  named : 


Virginia   $14.80 

Indiana   14.18 

Missouri     13.26 

Kansas  ..'   13.10 

Illinois   12.95 

Minnesota   11.56 

Iowa   10.28 


8 


becoming  more  and  more  necessary,  and  soon  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment must  yield  to  the  demand  for  means  required  to  give  the  in- 
creasing- products  of  the  West  direct  water  transportation  to  the  sea- 
board of  Virginia. 

NORTHERN  NECK. — What  we  have  said  of  Virginia  applies  with 
double  force  to  that  section  known  as  the  Northern  Neck,  comprising 
that  portion  of  her  territory  situated  between  the  Potomac  and  Rap- 
pahannock rivers,  and  extending  from  the  Chesapeake  Bay  to  the 
Blue  Ridge  mountains.  We  propose  to  confine  our  statement  to  the 
four  counties  occupying  its  eastern  portion.  These  counties  contain 
a  area  of  466,828  acres,  or  at  least  700  square  miles,  as  follows  : 

ACRES. 

Lancaster  81,713 

Northumberland    ,.     ,  119,852 

Richmond  . .       .       . '  j :   .       .  119,578 

Westmoreland        .       .       ,       «  '    .       .  145,685 


Total.  . 

466,828 

,  population  of  26,403,  distributed  a 

,s  follows  : 

WHITE. 

COLORED. 

TOTAL. 

Lancaster 

2,198 

3,157 

5,355 

Northumberland 

3,808 

3,055 

6,863 

Richmond 

3,475 

3,028 

6,503 

Westmoreland 

3,531 

4,151 

7,682 

Total 

13,012 

13,391 

26,403 

This  portion  of  the  Northern  Neck  has  an  average  width  of  fifteen 
to  twenty  miles,  with  extensive  and  beautiful  plains  lying  on  each 
river  and  the  bay,  aud  running  back  one  or  two  miles  to  the  ridge. 
This  ridge  extends  through  the  entire  length  of  the  Neck,  presenting  a 
country  about  100  to  200  feet  more  elevated  than  the  river  flats,  beau- 
tifully diversified  in  surface,  and  intersected  every  few  miles  by 
streams  of  fresh  and  soft  water.  The  streams  offer  numerous  millsites, 
and  many  of  them  are  navigable  for  miles  for  vessels  of  considerable 
size — indeed,  no  portion  of  these  counties  is  more  than  five  or  six 
miles  distant  from  navigable  water.  Almost  surrounded  by  the  salt 
water  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay  and  the  above  named  rivers,  and 
intersected  by  a  multitude  of  inlets  ("  creeks  "),  this  section  not 
only  possesses  unsurpassed  advantages  for  navigation,  but  has  in 
fish,  oysters,  wild  fowl  &c,  with  which  the  waters  abound,  an  un- 


9 


failing  and  inexhaustible  supply  of  food,  indeed  so  abundant,  that 
it  has  been  aptly  termed  by  a  distinguished  writer  "  the  poor  man's 
home."  Fishing  and  oystering  offer  employment  to  numerous  in- 
habitants, and  a  lucrative  investment  to  any  amount  of  capital.  The 
vicinity  of  these  large  bodies  of  water  exercises  a  marked  influence 
in  equalizing  the  temperature  and  in  rendering  this  peninsula  pe- 
culiarly adapted  to  fruit-raising  and  market-gardening  ("tracking") 
in  all  their  varieties.  Water  communications  with  New  York,  Phi- 
ladelphia, Baltimore,  Washington,  Norfolk  &c,,  affords  to  producers 
here  the  benefit  of  easy  access  to  the  largest  and  best  markets  of  the 
country,  with  the  ability  to  place  all  kind  of  produce  in  them  within 
a  very  short  time  and  at  a  slight  expense —  a  bushel  of  wheat  for  ins- 
tance costing  in  freight  from  here  to  Baltimore  4  ©  6  cents,  and 
other  things  in  proportion. 

SOIL. — The  soil  of  this  section  varies  perhaps  as  much  as  that 
of  any  territory  of  the  same  extent  in  the  country,  with  a  subsoil  in 
almost  every  portion  of  it,  however,  of  clay  either  of  a  dark  red  or  a 
dark  yellow  color,  the  latter  on  exposure  assuming  a  chocolate  hue. 
The  surface  soil  of  the  river  lands  varies  according  to  location,  and 
is  composed  of  alluvial  deposits,  intermixed  in  varying  proportions, 
and  though  for  many  years  cultivated  in  a  most  reckless  manner, 
as  above  stated,  is  even  to  this  day  and  without  any  improved  culti- 
vation producing  remunerative  crops.  The  rich  lands  are  generally 
stiffer  in  their  character  than  the  low  lands,  and  also  drier,  in  some 
places  sandy,  but  even  in  those  the  clay  subsoil  is  generally  found 
within  6  or  8  inches  of  the  surface.  No  lands  repay  improvement  more 
rapidly  or  more  certainly  than  these.  Many  instances  may  be 
cited,  where,  within  a  very  few  years,  the  production  of  these  lands 
has  been  increased  more  than  fourfold,  and  that  at  a  comparatively 
small  cost,  the  yield  of  which  lands  will  now  compare  most  favorab- 
ly with  the  best  and  highest  priced  land  of  any  portion  of  the 
country.  The  subdivision  of  the  present  large  estates  into  smaller 
farms,  more  thorough  and  careful  tillage,  and  the  use  of  barnyard  or 
other  manures  *)  with  the  aid  of  lime  and  grass,  offer  certaiiv  reme- 
dies for  a  long  continued  course  of  exhaustive  cultivation,  and  by  re- 
storing the  soil  to  its  former  fertility,  will  add  immensely  to  the 
market  value  of  the  lands. 

*)  Inexhaustible  quantities  of  vegetable  matter  of  easy  access  are  found 
contiguous  to  most  of  the  farms,  which  is  of  nearly  equal  value  to  barnyard 
manure. 


to 


CLIMATE. — The  climate  of  the  Northern  Neck  with  its  short 
winters  and  long  summers  (winter  generally  commencing  about  the 
end  of  December  and  closing  about  the  first  of  April)  offers  a  most 
agreeable  change  to  residents  of  a  more  northern  country,  where 
they  are  deprived  of  many  of  the  comforts  and  advantages,  which 
render  life  under  this  latitude  so  delightful.  According  to  the  re- 
ports of  the  United  States  Agricultural  Department  the  maximum 
temperature  of  this  section  for  1870  was  94°  F.  (27i  °  Reaumur), 
and  the  minimum  6  °  F.  (— °  Reaumur),  with  the  highest 
mean  temperature  of  any  month  79°  7'  (21  0  R.),  the  lowest 
35  °  9'  ( 1|-  °  R.  ),  indicating  a  range  sufficiently  varied  for 
the  growth  of  all  vegetation,  except  that  peculiar  to  tropical  coun- 
tries, and  offering  a  climate  delightful  to  the  strong  and  vigorous,  and 
both  soothing  and  bracing  to  the  invalid.  A  winter  of  so  short  a  dura- 
tion adds  in  a  great  degree  to  the  ability  of  the  farmer  with  a  small 
force  to  properly  prepare  his  lands.  The  immense  saving  in  the 
consumption  of  farm  products  by  stock,  here  in  comparison  with 
colder  latitudes,  and  the  consequent  ability  to  raise  a  larger  propor- 
tion of  cattle,  sheep,  and  hogs  need  not  be  dwelt  upon,  but  will  be 
appreciated  by  every  practical  and  judicious  farmer. 

HEALTH. — In  regard  to  health  this  section  will  compare  favor- 
ably with  most  others.  The  mortuary  reports  of  the  state  exhibit  a 
mortality  of  1.1  in  the  100,  or  of  1  in  90,  in  the  entire  tide-water  sec- 
tion, of  which  this  is  unquestionably  the  healthiest  portion.  Like  all 
tide-water  countries  the  prevailing  diseases  are  malarial,  but  here  in 
the  simplest  aud  mildest  forms,  being  chiefly  intermittent  fever,  a 
disease  now  so  well  understood  and  so  easily  controlled  as,  with 
proper  precautions,  to  be  altogether  avoided,  or,  if  contracted,  speedi- 
ly and  easily  relieved.  Only  from  the  grossest  neglect  is  it  attended 
with  fatal  or  even  serious  results.  The  typhoid  forms  of  disease,  so 
prevalent  in  more  elevated  regions,  are  here  almost  unknown,  and 
the  proportion  of  inflammatory  diseases,  such  as  pneumonia,  rheuma- 
tism, dysentery,  &c,  is  exceedingly  small.  By  many  this  section  is 
deemed  peculiarly  favorable  for  those  suffering  from  feeble  or  dis- 
eased lungs.  Sufficiently  near  the  coast  to  have  the  benefit  of  the 
sea  breezes,  and  too  distant  from  the  mountains  to  be  affected  by 
the  great  and  sudden  changes  of  temperature  experienced  there,  this 
section  of  Virginia  is  blessed  with  a  pure  and  equable  climate,  that 
is  scarcely  surpassed  anywhere. 


11 


FOREST-  AND  FRUIT-TREES. — The  original  forest  here  consisted 
mainly  of  chestnut,  gum,  several  varieties  of  oak,  beech,  walnut, 
hickory,  locust,  sycamore,  cedar,  pine,  &c,  &c.  Comparatively  lit- 
tle of  these  forests  remain,  as  most  of  the  lands  have  from  time  to 
time  been  brought  into  cultivation,  but  they  have  also  from  time  to 
time  been  allowed  to  grow  up  again  into  forests,  and  experience 
has  proved  that  the  second  growth  has  generally  been  pine  (unless 
the  original  growth  was  pine),  and  the  third  growth,  after  a  second 
course  of  bad  tillage,  has  been  of  the  same  kind  as  the  original 
growth,  and  so  on.  The  growth  of  forest  trees,  as  in  fact  of  all  trees, 
is  very  rapid,  the  chestnut  tree  for  instance  only  requiring  about  six- 
teen years  from  its  first  sproutings,  till  it  can  be  split  into  rails  (the 
most  durable  in  the  world),  and  pine  the  same  length  of  time,  till  it 
can  be  split  up  into  cord  wood  [  and  yield  forty  to  sixty  cords  to  the 
acre. — Of  fruit  trees  the  apple,  peach,  plum,  pear,  fig,  cherry,  apri- 
cot, quince,  damson,  peacan,  walnut,  &c,  in  all  their  varieties,  with 
exception  perhaps~of  the  winterapple,  can  be  cultivated  to  perfection 
and  made  to  bring  an  exceedingly  handsome  income.*)  The  same  is 
the  case  with  grapes  and  all  kinds  of  berries  and  smaller  fruits. 

CEREALS  AND  VEGETABLES. — At  present  the  principal  grain 
crops  are  corn,  wheat,  oats,  and  rye.  They  yield  on  similar  soils, 
varying  according  to  tillage^and  treatment,  as  follows  : 

Corn  from  10  to  60  Bushels  (shelled  corn)  per  Acre. 

Wheat "     5  "  30  " 

Oats    "     6  "  40  " 

Rye     "      8  "  30  " 
Our  climate  and  soil  are  also  adapted  to  the  tillage  of  tobacco 
and  cotton,  as  well  as  grasses  and  vegetables  of  every  description. 
These  latter  crops  are  generally  more  remunerative  than  the  grain 
crops. 

PRICE  OF  LAND. — The  prices  of  land  vary  as  much  as  the  soil 
and  its  products,  and  are  in  accordance  with  location  and  the  condi- 
tion of  buildings  and  other  improvements,  ranging  from  2  to  25  Dol- 


*)  The  average  yield  of  early  apple  and  pear  trees  is,  for  the  former  $10.00 
to  $15.00,  and  for  the  latter  $15.00  to  $25.00  each  net.  Instances  could  he 
named,  where  apple  trees  have  yielded  upward  of  $20.00,  and  pear  trees  of 
130.00.  Early  and  late  peaches  pay  fully  as  well  in  proportion,  but,  medium 
peaches  are  not  so  profitable,  unless  dried  or  canned. 


12 


lars  per  acre,  and  averaging  generally  from  8  to  12  Dollars.  Every 
description  of  land  may  be  had  in  small  quantities  or  large  blocks, 
to  suit  single  families  or  large  colonies,  and  upon  the  most  accommo- 
dating terms  of  payment. 

TITLES. — The  laws  of  Virginia  have  ever  especially  guarded 
the  title  to  real  estate,  the  landholder  having  every  protection  thrown 
around  him,  and  the  records  of  each  county  presenting  the  status  of 
ownership  and  exhibiting  every  thing  in  the  slightest  degree  affect- 
ing the  titles. 

LABOR. — Our  former  slaves  constitute  the  bulk  of  laborers  here 
as  elsewhere  in  the  Southern  States.  The  supply  of  this  labor  is  am- 
ple to  meet  the  demand  of  the  country,  and,  at  present,  greatly  in 
excess  of  the  ability  of  our  people  to  give  it  employment.  These  col- 
ored people  are  amiable,  polite,  easily  taught,  and,  generally,  as  tract- 
able as  children.  Former  servitude  having  accustomed  them  to 
feelings  of  entire  reliance  upon  their  owners,  they  will  generally  be 
found,  when  unemployed,  living  from  hand  to  mouth,  thriftless  and 
improvident.  They  are,  however,  always  anxious  and  willing  to  have 
any  employment,  which  secures  to  them  prompt  payment.  When- 
ever inspired  with  confidence  in  the  justness  of  their  employer,  and 
his  ability  to  settle  promptly,  they  invariably  become  efficient,  and 
when  properly  superintended,  first  class  laborers,  willing  to  serve, 
with  board,  at  from  30  to  50  cents  per  day,  6  to  10  dollars  per  month, 
or  70  to  100  dollars  per  year. 

SOCIETY. — It  has  been  the  habit  of  many  to  sneer  at  what  they 
please  to  term  our  aristocratic  pretensions.  This  imputation  is 
highly  unjust,  and  must,  at  least  to  a  great  extent,  have  its  origin  in 
ignorance  or  misapprehension.  While  birth,  breeding,  intellect,  and 
high  moral  worth  have  here  the  influence,  they  must  and  will  exert 
in  every  well  ordered  state  of  society,  yet,  nowhere  is  a  man  less 
valued  merely  for  his  wealth  or  position,  or  more  honored  for  the  pos- 
session of  what  is  good,  true  and  noble.  But  whatever  may  have 
been  the  facts  in  this  respect  heretofore,  poverty  has  certainly  ceased 
to  be  a  crime  in  Virginia  since  the  calamitous  results  of  the  late  war 
and  the  general  impoverishment  of  her  people.  He  who  a  few  years 
ago  owned  his  own  estate  and  merely  directed  his  own  laborers,  now 
perhaps  with  his  own  hands  guides  the  plough  and  performs  himself 
the  manual  labor  of  his  farm,  indicating  that  in  this  he  sees  nothing 
humiliating,  and  proving  that  his  only  reason  for  heretofore  abstain- 
ing from  it  was  one  that  would  suffice  with  most  men — namely,  that 


13 


he  had  others  to  do  it  for  him.  We  can  say  without  exaggeration 
that  our  people  are  kind  and  hospitable,  and  that  they  are  ready  to 
extend  a  cordial  welcome  to  all  honorable  men  of  whatever  degree 
and  nationality,  who  may  come  among  them,  with  the  purpose  of 
settling  and  developing  the  country. 

POLITICS. — In  this  connection  a  few  words  in  regard  to  political 
matters  may  not  be  amiss.  Virginia,  so  distinguished  in  the  political 
history  of  the  country,  has  always  been  the  advocate  of  a  strict  con- 
struction of  the  constitution  she  was  so  instrumental  in  forming,  and  of 
limiting  the  general  government  to  the  exercise  of  the  powers  express- 
ly granted  therein.  The  stern  verdict  of  war  having  decided  against 
her,  she  accepts  that  verdict,  and  with  her  old  vigor  and  sincerity 
unites  with  those,  to  whom  she  has  hitherto  been  opposed,  in  an  hon- 
est effort  to  purify  the  government  and  to  reestablish  a  healthy,  hon- 
est, and  constitutional  administration  of  its  affairs.  The  same  spirit 
has  plainly  actuated  her  in  the  election  of  some  of  her  highest  state 
officers,  and  the  management  of  the  state  affairs.  Evidences  of  this 
are  not  wanting.  Claiming  for  himself  the  full  expression  and  free 
exercise  of  his  political  rights,  every  Virginian  is  willing  to  accord 
those  same  rights  to  all  others,  whatever  their  opinions  may  be,  and 
none  need  apprehend  any  prejudice  or  interference  here,  because  of 
present  or  past  differences  in  political  views.  Indeed,  every  shade 
of  political  opinion  has  now  its  representative  amongst  us,  and 
all  alike  express  and  act  upon  those  opinions  with  the  same  free- 
dom. 

IMMIGRATION  NEEDED. — We  are  conscious  that  the  great  need 
of  this  section  is  an  increase  of  its  population,  and  our  earnest  desire 
is  to  attract  to  it  an  immigration  not  only  from  the  northern  and 
north-western  states,  but  also  from  Canada  aud  Europe.  This  im- 
migration will  bring  the  industry  and  capital  requisite  to  cultivate 
our  surplus  lands  and  to  develop  all  the  varied  resources  of  the 
country.  With  the  skilled  labor  that  will  attend  it,  our  water 
power  will  be  profitably  applied,  and  the  profits  of  manufacturing- 
added  to  the  production  of  the  raw  material,  and  much  that  is  now 
spent  abroad  be  retained  at  home.  The  hidden  wealth  of  our 
farms,  forests,  and  our  waters  will  be  developed,  and  this  country 
so  richly  endowed  by  nature,  raised  to  that  position  of  wealth  and 
influence,  to  which  those  endowments  entitle  her. 

With  these  advantages  of  soil,  climate,  ready  access  to  the  best 
markets  of  the  country,  and  with  abundance  of  lands  offered  at  low 


14 


prices  to  actual  settlers,  why  will  foreigners,  corning  to  our  shores, 
seek  the  far  West  with  its  long  cold  winters,  its  short  summers,  its 
absence  of  fruits,  its  distance  from  markets,  its  consequent  smaller 
prices,  larger  expenses,  and  all  the  manifold  difficulties  and  hard- 
ships attending  a  frontier  life,  when  within  a  day's  travel  from  his 
port  of  entry  he  can  reach  a  country  so  far  preferable,  and  where 
he  can,  with  the  natural  advantages  alluded  to,  enjoy  those  of  a  set- 
tled community  and  government,  with  churches,  schools,  and  social 
life,  indeed,  with  every  thing  necessary  to  afford  him  a  comfortable 
and  happy  home. 

Immigrants  will  be  received  with  open  arms.  Slavery  has  been 
abolished,  indolence,  ease,  extravagance,  careless  and  imperfect  til- 
lage are  at  a  heavy  ^discount.  Skilled  labor  and  husbandry  are 
eagerly  in  demand.  We  are  interested  in  building  towns,  villages, 
factories,  schools,  mills,  and  shops  of  every  description.  Our  lands, 
timber,  water  power,  and  mineral  deposits  are  craving  the  attention 
of  the  capitalist,  the  artisan,  the  mechanic,  the  farmer,  the  laborer, 
and  all  those  desiring  paying  investments,  pleasant  homes,  or  who 
are  suffering  from  the  diseases  incident  to  city  life  or  a  colder  lati- 
tude, to  all  we  say  :  come,  settle  among  us,  aid  in  developing  our 
vast  resources,  share  with  us  the  blessings  and  advantages  of  this 
rich  and  desirable  country,  and  we  feel  assured,  that  none  will  regret 
it,  but  great  and  lasting  benefit  will  ensue  to  both  citizen  and  im- 
migrant. 

ADVICE  TO  IMMIGRANTS. — There  are  still  a  few  points,  on 
which  we  deem  it  right  to  give,  some  advice  to  immigrants. 
1.  Those  who  come  here  to  purchase  lands,  ought  not  to  purchase 
more  than  they  are  prepared  to  pay  for  when  payments  are 
due,  but  rather  to  have  a  sufficient  surplus  of  means  to  stock 
and  improve  their  land  to  some  extent,  and  to  live  while 
waiting  for  the  first  crop.  It  is  true  that  there  have  been  in- 
stances, where  purchasers  have  run  in  debt  for  their  farms, 
and  by  extraordinary  success  been  enabled  to  pay  it  off  with 
two  or  three  years  crops  ;  but  any  calculation  based  upon 
such  success  is  most  frequently  followed  by  disappointment, 
detrimental  to  the  true  interests  of  the  old  citizens  as  well  as 
the  new  settlers.  The  surplus  means  needed  over  and  above 
the  purchase  money  depends  upon  the  state  of  cultivation  the 
land  is  in,  and_how  long  they  have  to  wait  for  their  first  crop. 


15 


2.  Immigrants,  especially  those  coming-  from  a  considerable  distance 

should  not  bring  with  them  heavy  articles  of  furniture,  tools, 
cattle,  &c.,  as  ail  such  can  be  bought  here  or  at  the  nearest 
cities,  as  cheap  or  cheaper  than  where  the  immigrant  comes 
from,  and  he  will  be  saved  from  risk  and  heavy  freights,  at- 
tending long  transportation,  especially  by  railroad.  All 
clothes,  bedding,  jewelry,  and  such  lighter  articles,  to  which 
they  have  become  peculiarly  attached,  they  should  bring  with 
them. 

3.  Immigrants  coming  direct  from  Europe,  will  do  best  in  taking 

the  Allan  line  of  steamers  from  Liverpool  to  Norfolk  and 
Baltimore.  From  the  last  named  city  they  can  come  direct 
and  at  a  trifling  expense  with  steamboat  to  any  portion  of  the 
Northern  Neck.  Those  coming  from  the  Northern  and  North- 
western States  and  Canada  should  take  the  most  direct  rail- 
road to  Baltimore,  unless  they  live  near  the  sea  coast,  when 
they  can  come  cheaper  around  by  sea,  and  when  they  may  also 
bring  more  of  their  household  goods  without  great  expense. 

COMMISSIONER  OF  IMMIGRATION.— Rev.  C.  L.  Clausen,  for 
nearly  thirty  years  a  citizen  of  the  Northwestern  States,  having  lo- 
cated in  the  NorthernNeck,  has  accepted  the  appointment  as  commis- 
sioner of  immigration  for  this  section  of  Virginia.  A  large  number 
of  farms  have  been  placed  in  his  hands  for  sale,  which  he  is  now- 
ready  to  sell  to  purchasers  at  low  fixed  prices,  and  upon  the  most  ac- 
commodating terms  of  payment.  He  will  promptly  reply  to  all 
queries  and  give  any  information  which  may  be  desired.  His  well- 
known  character  as  a  Christian  gentleman,  and  the  measures  already 
taken  by  him  to  insure  immigrants  against  the  frauds  and  imposi- 
tions usually  practised  upon  them,  entitle  him  to  the  full  confidence 


Until  \he  middle  of  October  this  year  my  Post  Office  address 
will  be  "  St.  Ansgar,  Mitchell  County,  Iowa,"  after  which  time 
I  intend  to  occupy  my  property  Milton  Hall,  Richmond  County. 


of  all. 


July  1872. 


JOHN  M.  BROCKENBROUGH,  ] 
J.  A.  WELLFORD. 
W.  W.  WALKER. 
A.  L.  CARTER, 
T.  E.  BETTS. 


Board  of 
Immigration. 


16 


Virginia,  when  my  Post  Office  address  will  be,  until  further  notice, 
Warsaw  in  the  same  county.  During  my  temporary  absence  from 
the  Northern  Neck  my  business  there  will  be  attended  to  by  the 
President  of  the  Board  of  Immigration,  Col.  J,  M.  Brockenbrough, 
Warsaw,  Richmond  County,  Va. 

Immigrants  and  others  desiring  further  information  may  also 
apply  to  Messrs.  Winslow  Bros.  &  Co.,  Banking  and  Commission 
House,  39  Broadway,  New  York. 


C.  L  CLAUSEN. 


44703 


